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May 11, 2010

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Calvary Chapel Albuquerque States: Leonard Sweet Will Not Be Speaking at Conference – Lighthouse Trails Calls For Answers

This is an update regarding the Lighthouse Trails report that New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet is scheduled to speak at Calvary Chapel Albuquerque for the National Worship Leader Conference this June. Conflicting reports are occurring as to whether Sweet’s speaking engagement has been cancelled. Please refer to our recent posting, Questions Arise: Is New Age Sympathizer Leonard Sweet Speaking at Calvary Chapel Albuquerque or Not? where we write on some of these conflicting reports.

A number of Lighthouse Trails’ readers contacted us over the last couple days sending us copies of an email they each received from an undisclosed personnel at Calvary Chapel Albuquerque. The form letter states:

Thank you for contacting us here at The Connection and thanks for writing to Pastor Skip. We always love to hear from you. The conference is not a Calvary conference. The conference is being put on by Worship Leader Magazine using our facility – just like CAPE, Home school graduation, funerals, etc. Therefore, Leonard Sweet is not speaking at “Skip’s Church”. [LT: Heitzig is one of the speakers at this event.] He is part of a conference using Calvary’s facilities. Leonard Sweet will attend the conference but WILL NOT BE SPEAKING. It is our prayer that God will continue to reveal Himself to you through His Word as you seek to know Him.

Love in Christ,
Connection Communications

Because the National Worship Leader Conference website still maintains that Leonard Sweet will indeed be speaking at Calvary Chapel Albuquerque, an official public notice from CCA stating that Leonard Sweet will not be speaking there could help clear up the present confusion. Just as important, a statement explaining to the body of Christ why they have decided to remove him from the platform would be important. In a day and age when so many Christian leaders are sending out mixed messages to the Church regarding spiritual deception, those wanting to maintain biblical integrity need to be forthright and clear in what they believe and stand for. And regardless of what denomination or movement this confusion is occurring in, those particular leaders do have a biblical obligation to the entire body of Jesus Christ. This is not Lighthouse Trails saying this – this is what the Bible requests of leaders and pastors.

In a recent similar situation, when Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa invited emerging author Mike Erre (Rock Harbor) to speak to thousands of youth at the Movement 2009 event, Lighthouse Trails reported on this matter. Then at the beginning of that event, a Calvary Chapel pastor told these youth, referring partly to Lighthouse Trails, that the “haters” tried to stop them but they didn’t. Lighthouse Trails rejects this effort by some to villainize us because we are reporting on various public occurrences within the church that are affecting thousands and in some cases (such as Purpose Driven) millions. We have attempted these past eight years to maintain honesty and accuracy as well as uphold biblical integrity in how we report and write. It is wrong for Christian leaders and other figures to try to make Lighthouse Trails the issue when in fact their doctrines and public teachings should be the focus. It appears that many of these leaders do not like to be corrected or challenged. The fact that they often revert to vitriolic and untrue statements to sway public opinion is indication that something is amiss. Rather than becoming angry at Lighthouse Trails and other similar ministries, they should be able to scripturally or factually refute our protests, and thus neutralize our concerns. It is as simple as that.

Lighthouse Trails is not engaging in this work out of a sense of spiritual crankiness. We’ve documented in our books and articles that there are very clear and profound ramifications to this controversy – - the spiritual health of millions in the years to come is at stake. Lighthouse Trails is not merely picking on Leonard Sweet just for the sake of someone to bully. Sweet has made the clear statement that mysticism (the vehicle through which the present falling away is occurring) was once on the side lines of the Christian life and now is situated at the center; he supports the idea that the Christian of the future will be a mystic, or he or she won’t be a Christian at all.1 When you incorporate the fact that Leonard Sweet sees as “New Light heroes,” New Age mystics such as Matthew Fox, there are legitimate reasons for biblical Christians to raise concerns.

Notes:

1. Read our articles on Sweet, including the one below for documentation of these statements. Documentation on Sweet can also be found in A Time of Departing and A “Wonderful” Deception.

Quotes by Sweet:

Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center.… In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, “The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing.” [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. Mysticism begins in experience; it ends in theology. (from p. 160, A Time of Departing, quoting Sweet from Quantum Spirituality, p. 76

For a collection of quotes by Leonard Sweet, see Sandy Simpson’s website.

Food for Thought: CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM AS A NEO-PIETISM

(courtesy Apprising Ministries)

"Within Christianity, the early heresies all won popularity more by their ascetic [pietistic] and mystical practices than by any teachings they possessed. Almost all of them were either infiltrations of Eastern thought or the result of Greek mystic thought. Gnosticism, Mithracism, Neoplatonism, and later also Manichaeism all had Eastern origins. They sought the world’s regeneration in outdoing [historic orthodox] Christianity in ascetic and mystical efforts.

"Likewise, Islam as a heresy of Judaism has produced some of the greatest spiritual poetry, while its Arab philosophers have profoundly influenced Western thought. Its spiritual masters have been among the greatest, the most severe, and the most faithful in the history of asceticism. Thus it is not just in doctrine that such Eastern faiths have challenged the West, but in their practices of spirituality." (from the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 1139)

Calvary Chapel Albuquerque States: Leonard Sweet Will Not Be Speakint at Conference - Lighthouse Trails Calls for Answers

Food for Thought: Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism as Neo-Pietism

Book Review: Putting Away Childish Things, a Tale of Modern Faith by Marcus Borg (emergent author)

Attack on the Evange-hellicals - Chapter 6

A Special Mother's Day Story - No Longer a Secret

Castles in the Sand Novel Warns Reader

Warning: Monvee - Leadership Network's Spiritual Formation & Mystical Spirituality

Warren B. Smith and Ray Yungen Speaking Schedule

Interspirituality: The Outcome of Contemplative Spirituality (Spiritual Formation)

WorldNetDaily on Mark Driscoll and Rick Warren - growing trend to meet with Muslims rings alarm bells for some

Free Things from Lighthouse Trails

Interfaith School for Military Chaplains Dedicated

Archie Comics Introduces Gay Character, Kevin Keller

QUICK LINKS

Who We Are

Lighthouse Trails is a Christian publishing company. While we hope you will read the books we have published and support our authors, we also provide extensive free research, documentation, and news on our Research site, blog, and newsletter. We pray that the books as well as the online research will be a blessing to the body of Christ and a witness to those who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Contacting Us

Important Note: If you try to reach Lighthouse Trails through email and do not receive an answer from us within a timely manner, please either re-email your comments or call us. Unexplainably, we do not receive all our email, and some of our email to others does not reach its destination. Click here for contact information.

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January/February (Vol. 1. #1)

BOOK REVIEW: Putting Away Childish Things, a Tale of Modern Faith by Marcus J. Borg

LTRP Note: While reading this book review on Marcus Borg’s new book, please bear in mind two things: one, that Borg rejects essential tenets of the biblical Christian faith (such as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he was born of a virgin, and that He was God), and two, that numerous emerging church leaders have at various times shown admiration for Borg and his writings (these would include Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Calvin Miller, Mike Erre, Walter Brueggemann (helped write Richard Foster’s “Bible”) and at least on one occasion, Leonard Sweet). After you read this book review, you may better understand why Lighthouse Trails is so concerned about the “new” spirituality that has entered the Christian church and been embraced by so many of its leaders and pastors.

BOOK REVIEW: Putting Away Childish Things, a Tale of Modern Faith by Marcus J. Borg

By Ted Kyle
Free-lance writer

Putting Away Childish Things, a Tale of Modern Faith by Marcus J. Borg, published by Harper One, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, 342 pages, $25.99.

Learning to Doubt 101

Marcus J. Borg is a veteran of the Christianity wars, having been at one time a member of The Jesus Seminar, a humanist circle of liberal theologians who set themselves the task of voting Bible passes “in” or “out,” depending upon their supposed collective wisdom. Borg is also professor emeritus in the philosophy department at Oregon State University, and the author of the New York Times best-selling Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The Heart of Christianity, The Last Week, and Jesus (from the dust cover).

Borg’s latest book, Putting Away Childish Things, is a novel. It is his first work of fiction, but he uses this vehicle knowledgeably to make his points. His protagonist is Kate Riley, an assistant professor in the department of religious studies at a small Midwestern liberal arts college. Kate is serious about her religion and thinks of herself as a Christian—though her concept of what that means would not agree with a conservative’s definition: she has had a lover (from whom she distanced herself when she decided he was not marriage-material), as well as other sexual encounters, and would not mind another liaison, though the only man she likes in her surroundings is gay. He is, accordingly, her best friend but not her lover. The thought that extra-marital sex is sinful adultery does not enter the picture—it is no doubt one of the strictures that liberals have written out of their workaday Bibles. Sin and the need for forgiveness receive no honored place at the table in this book.

As a story, this is not an easy read, being burdened with its load of liberal doctrine. But as a literary device to lead the unwary into swallowing that doctrine, along with the vulnerable student, Erin, it may succeed very well. Readers should be aware that this is an agenda-driven book. Virtually everything in it is there for a purpose.

The author’s most important point is championing the Age of Enlightenment’s attack on the inerrancy of the Bible. It is a theme he introduces early and often throughout the book, as the following dialog illustrates:

Fiona, a member of Kate’s class, Religion and the Enlightenment, spoke up in an early class discussion: “I’ve had a couple of courses from Kate—I mean, Professor Riley—before and one of the things I’ve learned is that we need to set aside our worldview if we’re going to understand other worldviews…I ‘m not sure where that leads—I just know that there are a lot of different ways of seeing.”

Another student (Andrew, the class skeptic): “But you must know that our way of seeing things is just one among many. How do we know it’s any better?…. There’s no one true way of seeing—there are only ways of seeing…. And if you take that seriously, it means we can’t really know anything for sure” (p. 101).

Another student (Erin) protests: “I belong to a Christian group… We think there are some absolutes, that there have to be. Otherwise, anything goes.”

Andrew: “And where do you get your absolutes?

Erin: “Well, we—the group I’m part of—get them from the Bible. We—at least most of us—think the Bible is infallible, because it’s inspired by the Holy Spirit. And we think that if you don’t think that way, then the Bible is just another book, and you get to pick and choose what you like and don’t like in it. That’s called cafeteria Christianity.”

Andrew: “So, in a sea of relativity, the Bible is an absolute? The Bible is the exception?”

Kate, the professor, interrupted the silence which followed to say that the discussion is about “the central question of the course: What happens to the Bible and Christianity within the framework of modern thought?… What has happened to the notion of sacred scriptures and sacred traditions over the past three centuries because of the encounter with the Enlightenment?”

It is a thought-provoking session, well-designed to crack open old belief-positions absorbed without much thought as children. For many, it opens the floodgates of questions and doubts. Others have already passed that stage and now are convinced that the opening chapters of Genesis, the miracles in both Testaments, and much else in the Bible are not true. In Kate’s class they will be exposed to philosophical arguments to strengthens this disbelief.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN THE BOOK

1. The Two Narratives of Jesus’ Birth

One of the major plot twists comes in the form of reaction to a newly-published book by Kate: Two Stories, One Birth. In the book, she sharply distinguishes between the “stories” of our Lord’s birth in Matthew and Luke, instead of fitting them together to give a fuller picture of the occasion, as is normally done. Matthew’s account, she wrote, is dark and threatening, being dominated by Herod’s plot to kill the infant Jesus. Luke, however, “is basically joyful. There’s no plot by Herod to Kill Jesus; instead, there are hymns filled with joy” (page 24). Additionally, her book concludes that in Matthew, Mary and Joseph live in Bethlehem, in contrast to Luke’s account of the lengthy trip to Bethlehem from Nazareth. She comes to this astounding conclusion simply because “Matthew’s narrative makes no mention of the couple traveling there, leading us to assume that Bethlehem is their home” (page 31).

All this sets the stage for Kate to make her case during radio interviews that the stories of Jesus’ birth in both Gospels are parables—and “parables are about meaning, not factuality. And the truth of a parable is its meaning. Parables can be truthful, truth-filled, even while not being historically factual” (page 26). The interviewer responds with a leading question: “As I understand your book, you’re saying that it doesn’t matter whether there was a star of Bethlehem or wise men bringing gifts, or whether Jesus was born at home or in a stable, or whether angels sang to shepherds…. Would you extend this to the virgin birth as well—that it doesn’t matter whether it happened?” (page 27).

Kate ducks the question: “Well, my emphasis as a historian is on the meaning of a story of a divine conception in the context of the first century, not on whether it happened.” Much more is to come in Kate’s class sessions, where students are subtly led to question the Genesis account of Creation, including the creation of our first parents, Adam and Eve, miracles in both Testaments, and much else which is abhorrent to liberal thinking.

[Reviewer’s note: This retreat into theological gobbledygook is standard procedure throughout the book, in which pregnant suggestions and hanging questions are used to plant doubts, rather than making direct assertions regarding the unreliability of the Bible.]

2. Setting Us Straight on Homosexuality—and This Is a Biggie!

Erin, the student who has been part of the campus conservative club, The Way, has begun to question many things she had formerly taken for granted, such as the inerrancy of the Bible. Then, over the Christmas break, she learned that her younger brother is gay, and she is caught between her feelings for her brother and what the Bible says about homosexuality. Before she goes to Kate for guidance, she reads two books she finds in the college library (Dirt, Greed and Sex, by William Countryman and The New Testament and Homosexuality by Robin Scroggs) and in them, she tells Kate, she finds that “homosexuality is an abomination is in a context in Leviticus that also forbids lots of things that almost all Christians think are fine. Like planting two kinds o seed in the same field or wearing garments made of two kinds of cloth—I mean that would rule out blends. We set those laws aside and say they don’t apply to our time—so why should we think the verse about homosexuality applies to all times? And what they say about two of the three verses in the New Testament about homosexuality makes sense to me—that they probably refer to an older man having sex with a young boy… But the part of the New Testament that I still have trouble with is that passage from Paul in Romans….” She then reads Romans 1:26-27 aloud. “That’s really strong,” she says to Kate. “…That’s the passage I stumble over.”

Kate has her read the next verse. Erin reads verse 28, supposedly from her NIV Student Bible: “Furthermore, since they [the Gentiles] did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (page 207).

[Reviewer’s note: The words, “the Gentiles,” are not in the original Greek, nor are they in any Bible I have ever seen, specifically including the NIV Student Bible. The parenthetical words were doubtless added by Borg or an editor to buttress the professor’s argument that Paul is simply repeating “standard Jewish synagogue rhetoric about what Gentiles are like” (page 207). Erin, who wants to avoid having to regard her brother as under God’s condemnation, is convinced. And so might be readers of the book who fail to compare the quotation before them with their own Bibles—for the words appear to be part of the sacred text, despite being placed in a parenthesis.]

[It seems to this reviewer that Borg has crossed a very hazardous boundary indeed, for the Bible contains stern warnings about adding to or taking away from God’s Word (Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19, which includes a dire warning for tampering with God’s Word).]

[While the addition of these words may appeal to those who try to abrogate the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, it cannot be shaken. And Paul’s whole argument in Romans chapter 1 applies to every individual of whatever persuasion or religion—against “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who; hold the truth in unrighteousness” (vs. 18).]

Things then get worse in the counseling session: While Erin is absorbing the impact of Kate’s suggestion that Paul didn’t really mean to call homosexuality an abomination, Kate goes on to suggest that even if Paul did mean exactly what he said, he could very well have been mistaken—implying that there is no Holy Spirit inspiration involved (page 209). Truly, wickedness is at work in this book.

3. Positing Two Jesuses

In a class discussion about the effect of the Enlightenment on the Church’s understanding of Jesus’ intentions and accomplishments, Kate states in a hand-out that “Jesus as a historical figure was not the same as the gospels portray him. This especially the case in John’s gospel”—which, she writes, “is a very developed layer of the tradition.” In other words, liberal scholars, including The Jesus Seminar, do not believe Jesus regarded Himself as the Son of God, or Messiah, or the Bread of Life, etc. Nor do they believe Jesus came to Earth to die as the Lamb of God. All these things, they insist, were claimed for Him, after His death, by His followers (pages 238-239). These theologians deny especially the factuality of John’s Gospel, including our Lord’s assertion that “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

4. Tie-ins with New Age and Emergent Church Thought

Martin, a minor figure in the book, who is Kate’s one-time (and possibly future) lover, outlines a lecture he will give about mysticism. He jots down: “Would affect our sense of what the word ‘God’ points to: a reality that can be known and that is ‘all around us’—not a person-like being ‘out there,’ separate from the universe, a super-powerful authority figure whose existence can be argued about” (page 133). Later we learn that Kate shares this belief with Martin (page 276).

Additionally, in perhaps the only inclusion of real persons in the book, Brian McLaren and Jim Wallis are recommended by a faculty member of the seminary that is inviting Kate to fill a temporary position. He says: “I would love to have either of them on our faculty, though I don’t imagine they’d be interested. Both are committed evangelicals” (page 149).

5. A Horrifying Glimpse into Liberal Academia

The seminary which has invited Kate for a one-year visiting professorship has, in Martin’s words: “We have so many specialized points of view here—Asian, African, feminist, womanist, gay, lesbian, plus, of course, older white male.” He goes on to say: “Don’t get me wrong—I’ve learned a lot from feminist theology and African theology and Asian theology and gay theology, and I’m grateful” (page 269).

Conclusion: While I can only conclude that this book will lead readers away from truth (and from the Gospel) rather than to it, one poem quoted in the book, “Dover Beach” written by British poet Matthew Arnold in 1870, moved me. Arnold was attempting to describe how people’s faith in God was being shattered by overtly unbiblical challenges.

The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits—on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanch’d land,
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl’d,
But now I only hear its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

The third stanza may seem to tell the tale of the Church’s defensive battle against the attacks of the Enlightenment—a tale of retreat and gathering impotence in the face of worldly knowledge. Yet the tale is true only on the surface, for God, who cannot lie, has sworn that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church. Our Lord has also sworn that His Gospel “shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).

Though the church in our land is beleaguered, let us recall that “… They are not all Israel, which are of Israel”(Rom. 9:6), and that all this was foretold: “Now the Spirit

speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).

The Church in America, as in Europe in general, has forgotten that “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:14). We are called to live as pilgrims and sojourners in a strange land, for this land is not our true home: we seek another!

Meanwhile, let us soldier on for our Captain, holding His banner high, knowing that our work is not in vain—for our Father declared, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).

Praise His Name!

P.S.: If you wonder about Borg’s title, as I did, I have to tell you that he never mentions it in the book. But it dawned on me eventually that he is describing Erin, the girl who came to college clinging to her childhood faith, and lost it in the blaze of the Enlightenment. He’d like to be describing real persons—people like you and me. But personally, I’d much rather have the child-like faith that our Lord had in mind when He said: “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17).

Ted Kyle

Attack of the Evange-hellicals: Chapter 6

LTRP Note: The following is chapter 6 of John Lanagan’s latest apologetics fiction. Click here to read the first 4 chapters. Click here to read chapter 5.

by John Lanagan
My Word Like Fire Ministries

The call came at 4 am. Zack O’Rourke answered immediately. His staff joked that he never slept, but it was a little less humorous when he had them up all night researching. Leaning back in his chair, his size fourteens on his immaculate desk, he growled, “Katy, what you got?”

Research assistant Katy Muldoon said excitedly, “Boss, you’re never going to believe this.”

“Try me.”

Muldoon took a deep breath. “Mike Minor’s paper refers to Bob Hanratty, the guy who supposedly warned Bishop Daniel about the pro-gay signatories, as a columnist.”

“Right.” O’Rourke took his big feet off the desk and stood up. “Yeah, I read it, so that’s what I called Hanratty on-air when I asked Bishop Daniel about him. What, Katy? He’s not a columnist somewhere? Don’t keep me hanging.”

Katy Muldoon, twenty three years old and as adrenaline-driven as her famous boss, forced herself to calm down. “Well, I guess you could call him that. He has been printed twice in Fleas and Pets–

“In what?”

Muldoon knew better than to laugh. Unless, of course, her boss laughed first. Which wasn’t likely. “Fleas and Pets is published four times a year. It’s a newsletter, boss. It currently has eighty six subscribers…”

Muldoon stopped and waited for O’Rourke to finish swearing.

Mike Minor wouldn’t pull something like this, would he? O’Rourke walked over and glanced out the window. From his townhouse he could see the lights around Central Park. “Have you actually communicated with this Hanratty guy?”

“Yes, Boss. In several emails.”

“Did he actually contact Bishop Daniel?”

Katy Muldoon took a quick gulp of her espresso, and reached for her notes. “He definitely tried to contact him. Hanratty is an interesting–”

“Get me his phone number. I want to talk to him myself.”

Zack O’Rourke whistled, and his bulldog stirred from his sleep. The canine slowly got up, and made his stiff-legged way to his master. O’Rourke had three dogs, and his million-dollar townhouse had already been flea-bombed twice this year.

“I’m also going to need Mike Minor’s phone number. I knew something was not quite right when Bishop Daniel and Mike Minor were on yesterday.”

Reaching down to pet the massive Theodore, who was now scratching himself, he said, “And Katy, you might as well email me those Fleas and Pets newletters.”

To be continued…

A Special Mother’s Day Story – No Longer a Secret

As many Lighthouse Trails readers know, Lighthouse Trails’ goal is to bring light to areas of darkness in our society and in the church - that is why we have covered topics such as spiritual deception in the church, Christians who survived the Holocaust, homosexuality, and child sexual abuse. Yesterday, we were contacted by one of our co-researchers, Dwayna Litz, director of Lighting the Way International. With her permission we are posting her story because we believe it will minister to many.

For many years, Dwayna lived with a secret that was too painful to share with others. Like so many children who have been sexually abused, Dwayna felt shameful and even responsible for what had happened to her. She has come forth with the hope that her story will bring glory to the Lord. And please see our links below this story, which are related to this issue.

Giving Up the Secret of My Life

by Dwayna Litz
Lighting the Way International

Ok, well, after a week of a whole lot of tears, counsel, board meetings, and phone calls to friends about this situation, I have decided to give up the secret of my life. (It is all over the Internet anyway!)

This has been so painful. Interestingly, I wrote a song called “Place Of Surrender” with someone else in mind, when I am the one needing to surrender! That place of surrender is for me.

About three years ago I met David Kyle Foster who has a television program called Pure Passion featuring testimonies. He donated several of those testimonies for our table outreach in West Hollywood. As we began working together, I felt I could trust him enough to tell him a secret I did not want the public to ever know: I was sexually abused at age 13 by an evangelist. I was singing solos of hymns in revival meetings affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention as a young girl, and while in India singing in a crusade, the sexual abuse began. I was in my early twenties before I realized it was sexual abuse, but the angst within me began right after the abuse, to leave me helplessly asking God to put me back at ease within for years to come.

David Foster, the producer of Pure Passion, said, “I would like for you to share your testimony on my television program.” I answered, “I am not ready for that.” For over a year he asked me to be on the television program until I finally agreed. I figured it would be aired on a small cable channel and hardly anyone would see it. I was wrong.

It was the first time I had ever shared about the abuse, and he wanted me to look directly at him while talking. I could hardly speak without crying. I look at myself on the clip today and think, “Shoot the girl, and put her out of her misery!” The taped program from early 2009 is really painful for me to watch. I hate the way I look! But that is, when people see me. When people see the love of Jesus, it makes for the most beautiful segment.

Well, it aired, and several people emailed me about it. I found myself very uncomfortable in such a vulnerable position though I was sincerely honored that God would use my life to encourage others. Then, several people wrote to say they had seen it on YouTube, to which I responded by writing David asking, “Please take that video of me down off of YouTube!” He consented.

It is now on Vimeo and all over the Internet. It is in so many places that I cannot possibly call everyone and ask them to remove it! :-)

I called a counselor and good friend to me, and she asked me to make a list of the pros and cons of having this video all over the Internet. I couldn’t make the list without crying with still no peace about everyone knowing me. Then, she said something that stopped me cold. She casually said while explaining the importance of boundaries, “There are two Dwayna Litzes: Dwayna Litz in her personal life and Dwayna Litz in her public.”

All of a sudden that changed everything, and I knew what to do. As I thought more about it, I had nothing but peace. I was going to surrender this secret of my life and be the same Dwayna Litz in my personal life as I am in my public. I don’t want to be a woman of secrets that characterize my life in and out of seasons. I want to be the same Dwayna Litz that everyone sees.

The evangelist who sexually abused me was certainly a man of secrets–the man everyone saw on the outside publicly was nothing like the man he was in his private life. I am not perfect by any means, but I don’t want that to be said about me. As a matter of fact, I feel strongly that my life could never be defined as a “success” with two drastically different “Dwayna Litzes”. I can honestly say that if someone took a video camera and taped me day and night here in Atlanta, anyone watching me could say, “Yes, she is a Christian. She lives it.” They would not be surprised or shocked at anything they saw in my little quiet life. WHAT A GIFT GOD HAS GIVEN US WHEN HE LETS US LEAD AN HONEST LIFE. This is my goal in life over anything else I do: I want to lead an honest life.

The dangerous and dark seasons of my life have been short lived. I give God all the credit for that. He gets me out of things one way or another, so that my life can truly be defined as a woman God has redeemed for His glory.

So, as I give up this secret, I am sure I will be misunderstood for it. But, if I really trust that God has made no mistakes in my life, I can have the courage to be known. At least no one can say that I am a woman defined by secrets. I am a woman defined by God’s grace.

Thanks to my background, I have a keen awareness that I am not better than anyone else. I can go to places like West Hollywood realizing I am not one bit better than the most debased person there. I just have a Savior who has saved me from sin and a Shepherd who miraculously keeps me.

My tears have dried, and I feel happy again as I let this secret go.

In a beautiful place of surrender,

Dwayna
P.S.–When I called David, the producer, last week I asked, “Can you please at least add a footnote and let the people know I have lost weight since then?” :-) This video has been so hard for me. Like so many other things in my life, I never planned on this place of surrender! It came as a gift from God. (source)

Related:

Lighthouse Trails carries Dwayna’s beautiful music CD, My Prize. You can listen to sample clips on our store sight. Also, on YouTube you can watch a ten minute preview of Dwayna’s promotional DVD, which will be out soon.

Also, for another story of God’s redemption and grace through child abuse, read Laughter Calls Me, the true story of Catherine Brown (Deborah Dombrowski’s pen name) whose four children became the victims of child pornography in the 1980s.

And if you have not watched The Kinsey Syndrome, we highly recommend it. Here is the description of this haunting but necessary film by Christian Pinto (Addulam Films):

Exposes the truth about the sexual revolution that stemmed largely from the work of a man named Dr. Alfred Kinsey, considered by many to be the main influence on today’s views of homosexuality, pedophilia, and other sexually deviant behaviors. In order to bring light to this area of darkness in our society, discerning Christians need to be aware, and thus our reason for carrying the Kinsey Syndrome.

“Castles in the Sand” novel warns reader

by John Lanagan
My Word Like Fire Ministries

Castles in the Sand, by Carolyn Greene, is a good book as fiction per se. Yet, some fiction is…true. Greene’s book shows how even Christian colleges can fall prey to the anti-Biblical practices of the enemy.

At church last night a young woman told me she was at a “spiritual” bookstore, owned by a friend of her mother. The things being talked about seemed familiar somehow. She hadn’t finished reading Castles in the Sand, but she went back and read more.

Sure enough, many of the New Age/New Spirituality practices were described in the book. The woman had been educated, through this Christian “fiction,” to recognize these things the bookstore owner and her mother had been talking about.

Well, I have written many articles about Castles in the Sand. I have taken it to an AA meeting, a labyrinth, a Red Letter (yeah, right) Christian’s lecture, and even to a vampire movie. I have given the novel to people, or left it in strategic spots.

But I also have given it to people from my church. And hearing that last night, man, it is incredible to be a small part of the Lord’s plan.

Author Carolyn Greene, may He guide and bless you. If we see a sequel, I know it will only be after much prayer. That’s how the first one came with such power. (source)

WARNING: Monvee – Leadership Network’s Spiritual Formation & Mystical Spirituality

BY SOLA SISTERS

In a recent post about Monvee, we talked about Catholic mystic Thomas Merton who once compared mystical meditation to the same powerful experience generated by mind-altering drugs. And as we noted, the problem with mystical meditation is that it is far more dangerous than drugs. Monvee, the new product put out by Leadership Network, markets itself as a way for Christians to draw closer to God through something called “Spiritual Formation.” But, the Spiritual Formation techniques taught by Monvee, which are the same thing as the “mystical meditation” referenced by Thomas Merton, are identical to classic occultic meditation practices taught in Hinduism, Buddhism, wicca, paganism,etc.

God, however, is very specific about how we are to “draw closer” to Him, and that is only through the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10). And yet most religions outside of Christianity have some version of mysticism that they practice for the specific purpose of drawing close to God. So the question must be asked: if these faith traditions are outside of Christ, are they getting to God? We know the answer to that, and it is obviously, no, they aren’t getting to God. We may not be getting much in the way of deep doctrinal teaching in our churches today, but we at least know that much, right? We know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no-one comes to the Father but by him. However, we also know from the testimonies of mystics that they are experiencing something, so what is it? It is a “counterfeit Holy Spirit experience” which “feels” very real and very spiritual. What they’re experiencing is spiritual…only it is not from God.

As a former mystic, the biggest blind spot I see in today’s Christian culture is almost an innocence about spiritual deception, a thinking that as Christians we can’t be deceived. A belief that if, spiritually speaking, something were “off” about a teaching or practice, somehow we would just “know” it because it would “feel wrong.” But even more than that, there also seems to be this idea that only we, as Christians, have true spiritual experiences, that somehow these mystics must not be having “real” experiences, that it’s all smoke and mirrors. This is absolutely not true. What these mystics are experiencing is real, and it is spiritual, and mystics wouldn’t have been doing these things for centuries if they weren’t connecting to…..something. God graciously and mercifully has given us many warnings so that we would know how to defend ourselves against spiritual deception. We are warned that Satan himself can masquerade as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). We are told that we must test all things (1 John 4:1), because none of us are beyond being deceived. Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:

Bob Buford, Peter Drucker, and the Emerging Church

Leadership Network Launched the Emerging Church Movement!

Shaping the Minds of the Youth

Interspirituality: The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer (Spiritual Formation)

by Ray Yungen

The final outcome of contemplative prayer is interspirituality. . . Just what exactly is interspirituality? The premise behind interspirituality is that divinity (God) is in all things, and the presence of God is in all religions; there is a connecting together of all things, and through mysticism (i.e., meditation) this state of divinity can be recognized. Consequently, this is a premise that is based on and upheld by an experience that occurs during a self-hypnotic trance linking one to an unseen world rather than to the sound doctrine of the Bible.

It is important to understand that interspirituality is a uniting of the world’s religions through the common thread of mysticism. Wayne Teasdale, a lay monk who coined the term interspirituality, says that interspirituality is “the spiritual common ground which exists among the world’s religions.”1 Teasdale, in talking about this universal church also states:

She [the church] also has a responsibility in our age to be a bridge for reconciling the human family . . . the Spirit is inspiring her through the signs of the times to open to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Taoists, Confucians, and indigenous peoples. As matrix [a binding substance], the Church would no longer see members of other traditions as outside her life. She would promote the study of these traditions, seek common ground and parallel insights.2

An article in my local newspaper revealed just how well received interspirituality has become in certain circles. One Presbyterian elder who was described as a “Spiritual Director” made it clear when she said:

I also have a strong interest in Buddhism and do a sitting meditation in Portland [Oregon] as often as I can. I considered myself ecumenical not only in the Christian tradition, but with all religions. 3

Pastor and author John MacArthur summed up this profound and imminent danger in his book, Reckless Faith:

The evangelical consensus has shifted decidedly in the past two decades. Our collective message is now short on doctrine and long on experience. Thinking is deemed less important than feeling . . . The love of sound doctrine that has always been a distinguishing characteristic of evangelicalism has all but disappeared. Add a dose of mysticism to this mix and you have the recipe for unmitigated spiritual disaster.4

Sound doctrine must be central to this debate because New Ageism has a very idealistic side to it, offering a mystical approach to solve human problems. Everyone would like to have his or her problems solved. Right? That is the practical aspect I wrote about in the last chapter—a seemingly direct route to a happy and fulfilled life. However, one can promote the attributes of God without actually having God.

People who promote a presumably godly form of spirituality can indeed come against the truth of Christ. Then how can you be assured what you believe and practice is of God?

The Christian message has been clear from the beginning—God has sent a Savior. If man only had to practice some kind of mystical prayer to gain access to God then the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a fruitless, hollow endeavor.

Sound Christian doctrine comes from the understanding that mankind is sinful, fallen, and separated from God. Man needs a saving work by God! A teaching like panentheism (God is in everybody) cannot be reconciled to the finished work of Christ. How could Jesus be our Savior then? New Age constituents will say He is a model for Christ consciousness, but the Bible teaches He is the Savior of mankind. Therefore, panentheism cannot be a true doctrine.

The problem is that many well-intentioned people embrace the teachings of panentheism because it sounds so good. It appears less bigoted on God’s part. No one is left out—all are connected to God. There is a great appeal in this message. Nevertheless, the Bible does not teach a universal salvation for man. In contrast, Jesus said:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Christ’s message is the polar opposite of these universalist teachings. Many people (even Christians) today think only a few really bad people will be sent to hell. But in Matthew, the words of Jesus make it clear that this just is not so.

While God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world, He did not say all would be saved. His words are clear that many would reject the salvation He provided. But those who are saved have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18) making an appeal to those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 4:3). The Christian message is not samadhi, Zen, kundalini, or the contemplative silence. It is the power of the Cross!

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Yes, perishing, and not just unaware of their true self.

In an opinion poll, the startling results describe how Americans actually view God. Spirituality and Health magazine hired a reputable pollster organization to gauge the spiritual beliefs of the American public. This national poll revealed that 84 percent of those questioned believed God to be “everywhere and in everything” rather than “someone somewhere.”5 This means panentheism is now the more popular view of God. If true, then a high percentage of evangelical Christians in America already lean towards a panentheistic view of God. Perhaps many of these Christians are fuzzy about the true nature of God.

How could this mystical revolution have come about? How could this perspective have become so widespread? The answer is that over the last thirty or forty years a number of authors have struck a deep chord with millions of readers and seekers within Christianity at large. These writers have presented and promoted the contemplative view to the extent that many now see it as the only way to “go deeper” in the Christian life. They are the ones who prompt men and women to plunge into contemplative practice.

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (II Corinthians 11:14, 15)

(from A Time of Departing, 2nd edition, pp. 50-53)

Notes:

1. Wayne Teasdale, “Mysticism as the Crossing of Ultimate Boundaries: A Theological Reflection” (The Golden String newsletter, http://clarusbooks.com/Teasdale.html, accessed 10/2009).
2. Wayne Teasdale, A Monk in the World (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2002), p. 64.
3. Jan Alsever quoted in Statesman Journal, January 27th, 1996, Religion Section.
4. John F. MacArthur, Reckless Faith (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), pp. 154, 155.
5. Katherine Kurs, “Are You Religious or Are You Spiritual?” (Spirituality & Health Magazine, Spring 2001), p. 28.

WorldNetDaily on Mark Driscoll and Rick Warren: Growing trend to meet with Muslims rings alarm bells for some

By Michael Carl
WorldNetDaily

Rick Warren promotes un-biblical interspirituality

The effort among some Christian churches to meet with Muslims and dialogue about faith is a betrayal of the basic foundations of Christianity, asserts a critic of the developing trend.

”Useful idiots,” is how Christian talk show host and Muslim analyst Ingrid Schlueter assessed the participants in a recent interfaith dialogue session between the Acts 29 Network-affiliated Harambee Church and MAPS, the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, a group that has connections to the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

WND previously reported an expert on the advance of radical Islam in the United States says the Muslim Brotherhood is effectively employing a strategy of presenting “Islam lite” to organizations, including Christian churches.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the Sunni transnational movement founded in Egypt in 1928 that has spawned most of the major terrorist movements in the world, including al-Qaida and Hamas. It’s aim is to make Islamic law supreme over the world.

The recent church plant, a spinoff of Seattle’s Mars Hill megachurch, recently started a series of interfaith dialogue meetings with MAPS. Schlueter said there are complications.

“Harambee Church is pastured by Michael Gunn, who was a former pastor at Mars Hill Church. When I saw that they had actually worked with CAIR to sponsor this event I was shocked and really horrified,” Schlueter said. “I know something of the background of CAIR. It’s very clearly a group with terrorist ties, so much so that the government won’t even work with them as of last year. They were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Hamas funding case the government was investigating.

“I just couldn’t believe that a church would actually serve as a propaganda base in effect for this Muslim group, what many call a Hamas front group in an evangelical church,” Schlueter said. Click here to continue reading.

Related Information on Interspirituality:

Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?

CrossTalk Calls Mark Driscoll and Liberty University To Task for Compromising the Faith

UK Observer: “Blair courts controversial US pastor Rick Warren in bid to unite faiths”

Christians, Muslims, Jews Worship at Evangelical Megachurch

23 UK schools ditch Christian school assemblies for Islamic or interfaith worship

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Interfaith school for military chaplains dedicated

(courtesy Underground News US)

By Susanne M. Schafer, The Associated Press
USA Today

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — Priests, rabbis, imams and Protestant ministers who serve as U.S. military chaplains came together Thursday to dedicate themselves and the nation’s first joint military school for tending warriors’ souls.”We deploy side-by-side. We minister to all, side-by-side. It is only fitting that we train side-by-side,” said Chaplain Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson, the Air Force Chief of Chaplains, at the dedication of the new Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center

Congress ordered the military services five years ago to merge their disparate chaplain and chaplain assistant schools. Representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force said they put aside differences of military culture to build a multi-faith education center.

The site is next to the Army’s Chaplain Center and School, which trains the most chaplains of all service branches. This year, the three services expect to graduate just under 2,800 chaplains and chaplain assistants.

Military chaplains hold their own faith services, but may oversee non-denominational events. If requested, they can offer counseling to any uniformed service members or relatives, as well as civilians and contractors who work for the military. They are trained to help uniformed men and women deal with the trauma of war and issues such as deployments and reunions. Some specialize in such things as marriage, family or anti-suicide counseling. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Articles:

Efforts Underway to Train U.S. Military Chaplains and Personnel in Eastern Mysticism

Men Who Stare at Goats and Toward a Mystical Military

Archie Comics Introduces Gay Character “Kevin Keller”

by Sola Sisters

There’s a new kid on the block in Riverdale, the fictitious home of the lovable characters of the Archie Comics. His name is Kevin Keller and he’s the comic strip series’ first openly gay character.

From the official press release:

“Kevin will appear in September’s VERONICA #202, in a story called “Isn’t it Bromantic?” Kevin Keller is the new hunk in town and Veronica just has to have him. After Kevin defeats Jughead in a burger eating contest at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe, she desperately latches onto him. Mayhem and hilarity ensue as Kevin desperately attempts to let Veronica down easy and her flirtations only become increasingly persistent.”

Jon Goldwater, co-CEO of Archie Comics, released the following statement about this new character:

“The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie’s hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books.”

Click here to continue reading this posting.

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